Fender Prodigy

Fender Prodigy
Fender Prodigy circa 1991.
Manufacturer Fender
Period 1991–1993
Construction
Body type Solid
Neck joint Bolt-on
Woods
Body Alder
Neck Maple
Fretboard Maple or Rosewood
Hardware
Bridge Synchronized Tremolo or Kahler Locking Tremolo
Pickup(s) 2 single-coils and 1 bridge position humbucker
Colors available
Black, White, Metallic Blue, Metallic Red, Sunburst

The Fender Prodigy is a discontinued model of electric guitar produced by Fender from 1991 to 1993. It is one of Fender's attempts to compete with the superstrat-style guitars produced by Ibanez, Jackson/Charvel, Carvin Corporation and Yamaha. Since the Prodigy series was discontinued after about two and half years of production without a clear reason, it is considered one of Fender's rare models because of its limited production. Fender also produced a Prodigy bass based on the Precision Bass Plus Deluxe featuring a P/J pickup layout, 2-band active circuitry and a "fine-tuner" Schaller Elite bridge assembly.

Design

The Prodigy series featured two single coil pickups and one humbucker at bridge position (sometimes referred to as a "Fat Strat" configuration). The body shape was similar to that of the Stratocaster; however, it featured an offset body, sharper body edges, and a smaller headstock. The Prodigy was relatively different from Fender's HM Stratocaster since it used Leo Fender's classic Synchronized tremolo system. The Prodigy II was introduced in 1992 with the Kahler locking tremolo & nut system instead; this model also featured Fender/Schaller tuners and black hardware.

The electronics also differed in that the Prodigy featured a single volume and single tone control. Traditional Stratocasters have a single volume, but have separate tone controls for the neck and middle pickup, with no tone control for the bridge pickup. Traditional Stratocasters also have a rout on the face of the guitar for a somewhat large, chromed, and angled output jack. This is missing from the Prodigy. It instead uses the third hole in the pickguard (which would normally be for the middle pickup tone knob) as the mounting position for the output jack.

Origin

While Tony Bacon's book 50 Years of Fender mentions the Prodigy as being "among the first Fender guitars to receive attention at the company's new factory in Ensenada, Mexico", the headstock is imprinted with "Made in U.S.A." [1] Sources at Fender attribute the majority of manufacture to the Corona, California plant.

References

  1. ↑ 50 years of Fender by Tony Bacon, Paul Day, page 100.
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